Method and apparatus for policy-based content sharing in a peer to peer manner using a hardware based root of trust

ABSTRACT

Securely sharing content between a first system and a second system is provided. A hardware-based root of trust is established between the first system and a server. Content requested by a user and an encrypted license blob associated with the content is received by the first system from the server. A first agent on the first system connects with a second agent on the second system. The encrypted license blob and a sub-license request are sent from the first agent to a security processor on the first system. The first security processor decrypts the encrypted license blob, validates the sub-license request, and if allowed, creates a sub-license to allow the second system to play the content. The first security processor sends the sub-license to a security processor on the second system. The first system provides access to the content to the second system for future playback according to the sub-license.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of computing system architectures for securely processing digital content. More particularly, an embodiment of the invention relates to sharing digital content within a hardware-based root of trust.

BACKGROUND

On open computing platforms, such as a personal computer (PC) system for example, when playing premium content (such as from a DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.), the digital rights management (DRM) processing and key management are typically performed in software by a media player application program. These schemes are not well protected and there have been instances of hacking, resulting in pirated content and loss of revenue to content owners. When content is played, even though the media decompression (such as H.264, MPEG-2, etc.) is done in hardware, the content is in the clear in system memory and can be stolen with software-based and/or hardware-based attacks. Due to these noted security weaknesses, only lower fidelity (such as standard definition (SD)) content or less valuable high definition (HD) content is typically distributed to open computing platforms. Improvements to the secure handling of digital content by open computing platforms (such as a PC, for example) are desired.

In order for users to securely share content between open computing platforms, in some current systems users are allowed to create domains and add devices to a domain via cloud-based services. However, the users may want to be able to share content with friends and/or family in an ad-hoc fashion without having to authorize the new devices for all of their content. In some cases, the user may want to allow one person or device to share a particular content title, and perhaps even just temporarily. Existing services and systems do not provide such capabilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is provided with reference to the accompanying figures. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a secure content processing pipeline according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a service provider server and security services infrastructure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a client computing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of secure content processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a secure content processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of peer client computing systems according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow diagrams of content sharing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention comprise a system architecture that provides a hardware-based root of trust (HW ROT) solution for supporting distribution and playback of premium digital content. In an embodiment. HW ROT for digital content and services is a solution where the basis of trust for security purposes is rooted in hardware and firmware mechanisms in a client computing system, rather than in software. From this root of trust, the client computing system constructs an entire media processing pipeline that is protected for content authorization and playback. In embodiments of the present invention, the security of the client computing system for content processing is not dependent on the operating system (OS), basic input/output system (BIOS), media player application, or other host software. In order to compromise the system, one will need to compromise the hardware and/or firmware mechanisms, as opposed to attacking the software running on top of the OS.

Embodiments of the present invention allow content providers to associate a set of flexible content sharing policies with content that is rented or purchased by a consumer. As long as the content sharing policies are followed and enforced by client computing systems, there is no need to contact cloud-based services to get permission for sharing content. There is no need for adding a client computing system to a specified domain. Instead, the content license contains the sharing policies. Embodiments of the present invention provide for peer-to-peer sub-licensing of content using a hardware-based root of trust for binding the usage of the content to the receiving client computing system based on content provider policies. Embodiments of the present invention also enforce playback rights.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments. However, various embodiments of the invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the particular embodiments of the invention. Further, various aspects of embodiments of the invention may be performed using various means, such as integrated semiconductor circuits (“hardware”), computer-readable instructions organized into one or more programs stored on a computer readable storage medium (“software”), or some combination of hardware and software. For the purposes of this disclosure reference to “logic” shall mean hardware, software (including for example micro-code that controls the operations of a processor), firmware, or some combination thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention protect content protection processing, key management processing, and content playback by using firmware and hardware in the CPU, chipset and integrated graphics/media engine of a client computing system 101 to perform these functions. Embodiments of the present invention provide end-to-end protection of the content as the content is processed by components within a computing system. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a secure content processing pipeline 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Content 102 may be accessible by a service provider (SP) server 104. Content 102 may be any digital information, such as audio, video, or audio/video data, images, text, books, magazines, games, or application programs. Service provider server 104 may include one or more servers for providing the content to a client computing system over any telecommunications channel (such as the Internet, cellular networks, wired or wireless networks, etc.). Content may be protected by any known content protection technology 106 (e.g., digital rights management (DRM) technology, cryptographic techniques, etc.) while stored in the SP server and during transfer to the client computing system 101. In one embodiment, the content may be protected by the Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) signature verification protocol as discussed herein. In one embodiment, video data may be encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cryptographic processing with CTR mode. The client computing system 101 may be a PC, laptop, netbook, tablet computer, handheld computer, smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), set top box, consumer electronics equipment, or any other computing device capable of receiving, storing and rendering content.

Within the client computing system, content protection processing 110 may be performed by a Security Processor 108. In one embodiment, the security processor may be within a chipset of the client computing system. In an embodiment, the chipset comprises a platform control hub (PCH). In another embodiment, the Security Processor may be within the CPU of the client computing system. In another embodiment having a system-on-chip (SOC) configuration, the Security Processor may be integral with other system components on a single chip. In one embodiment, the security processor comprises a Manageability Engine (ME). In other embodiments, other types of security processors may be used. The Security Processor is a subsystem implemented in hardware and firmware that interacts with other components of the client computing system. The Security Processor operates by loading firmware code from a protected flash memory region and executing the firmware code in protected memory. Since the content protection processing is performed in hardware and firmware within the Security Processor, protection of the content may be improved over software-based systems.

Cryptographic key information may be sent from the security processor over a protected chip to chip interconnect 112 to a component containing a central processing unit (CPU) and an integrated graphics (GFX)/media engine. In an embodiment, the protected chip to chip interconnect 112 comprises a secure Direct Media Interface (DMI) communications link to the CPU/GFX component. DMI comprises a chip-to-chip interconnect with two unidirectional lanes of concurrent data traffic, and isochronous transfer with improved quality of service. Data transferred over the DMI link may be protected by known cryptographic processing techniques. In an embodiment, the chip-to-chip secure link may be used for passing encrypted title keys over the DMI. Security is based on a shared secret between the PCH and the CPU. This shared secret may be established on each power cycle and can vary between families of products, generations and random groupings as needed to ensure protection and integrity of the shared secret. The DMI mechanism is independent of the OS, the BIOS, and software running on the CPU. The DMI mechanism may be used to create a trust relationship between the security processor (in the PCH) and the CPU.

The GFX engine 114 may include content protection processing to decrypt the content. The GFX engine also includes decoder logic 121 to process/decode the decrypted audio/video content and pass the audio/video content as media blocks to a graphics processing unit (GPU) within the GFX engine 114. The GPU includes security techniques, including using encoder logic 123, to protect the media blocks during processing in memory. GFX engine 114 also includes composition logic 125 to compose the image data to be shown on display 118. As the content is being handled within and between the security processor in the PCH and the GFX engine in the CPU/GFX component, the content may be protected by a hardware protected data path 116. In an embodiment, the hardware protected data path comprises a Protected Audio Video Path (PAVP) to maintain the security of the content. PAVP also supports an encrypted connection state between system components. By using the PAVP, the system may further protect the content during transfer between system components and within memory.

The interface between the GFX engine, the PCH, and the display 118 may be implemented by protected wired/wireless display links 120. In one embodiment, display data sent from the GFX engine via a memory through the PCH to the display may be protected by a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) content protection scheme. The HDCP specification provides a robust, cost-effective and transparent method for transmitting and receiving digital entertainment content to compliant digital displays. In an embodiment, the wired link may be implemented according to the HDCP Specification, Revision 2.0, available from Digital Content Protection, LLC, or subsequent revisions. HDCP may be employed to deter copying of the display data as the data travels over a DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Gigabit Video Interface (GVIF), or a Unified Display Interface (UDI) connection. The HDCP revision 2.0 specification addresses emerging usage models that let end users conveniently connect displays, devices and home theater systems via standard protocols and interfaces like TCP/IP, USB, Wi-Fi and WirelessHD. The HDCP revision 2.0 specification uses standards-based RSA public key and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption for robust content protection. In an HDCP system, two or more HDCP devices are interconnected through an HDCP-protected interface. The audiovisual content protected by HDCP flows from the Upstream Content Control Function into the HDCP system at the most upstream HDCP Transmitter. From there, the HDCP content, encrypted by the HDCP system, flows through a tree-shaped topology of HDCP receivers over HDCP-protected interfaces.

The HDCP content protection mechanism includes three elements: 1) Authentication of HDCP receivers to their immediate upstream connection (to an HDCP transmitter). The authentication protocol is the mechanism through which the HDCP transmitter verifies that a given HDCP Receiver is licensed to receive HDCP. 2) Revocation of HDCP receivers that are determined by the DCP to be invalid. 3) HDCP encryption of audiovisual content over the HDCP-protected interfaces between HDCP transmitters and their downstream HDCP receivers. HDCP receivers may render the HDCP content in audio and visual form for human consumption. HDCP receivers may be HDCP repeaters that serve as downstream HDCP transmitters emitting the HDCP content further downstream to one or more additional HDCP receivers. In one embodiment, display data sent to the display 118 may be sent over a protected wireless display (WiDi) link 127 using 802.11n wireless local area network (WLAN) technology.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, in embodiments of the present invention, from the time the content is received from the service provider server 104 until the content is displayed on the display 118, no cryptographic key or content is available in unencrypted form to any software or unauthorized hardware running on the computing system. Further, memory protection for video data is offered over the whole chain across the decrypt, decode/encode, compose and display pipelines. This capability is offered at the full memory bandwidth without compromising overall system performance.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a service provider server 104 and a security services component 202 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In an embodiment, security services component 202 may comprise one or more servers and/or components. In an embodiment, the security services component may be operated by the manufacturer of one or more components of the client computing system. The security services component provides capabilities for controlling client computing systems in the field. The security services component comprises a manufacturing component and a deployment component. The manufacturing component includes a certificate issuance component 218, a key generation (Key Gen) component 220, and a fuse programming (Fuse Prog) component 222. Certificate issuance 218 generates and issues public key certificates to each of the client computing platforms. Key Gen 220 is responsible for generating the private and public key pairs as needed for embedding into the client computing platforms. Fuse programming 222 is responsible for programming the fuses on the manufacturing floor with appropriate values in a robust and secure manner. These values would be used by the client computing platform to build up the trust anchors and key ladders inside the security processor.

The deployment component includes a certificate issuance component 204, a key generation (Key Gen) component 206, and a revocation manager 208. Certificate (Cert) issuance component 204 issues a digital certificate for the SP Server and Client components giving them the authorization to interact with such client systems for service deployment. Key generation (Key Gen) component 206 generates a cryptographic signing key pair, a root key pair, digital certificates, and group public keys, and signs the group public keys for each group. Revocation manager 208 determines identifiers and signatures of client computing systems to be added to a revocation list (RL), updates the RL, and distributes updated RLs.

The SP server 104 communicates over network 201 (such as the Internet) with the client computing system. The service provider server comprises a SP server application 212 and a SP server agent 210. The SP server application provides content browsing capabilities. The SP server agent 210 controls the sending of client specific messages, manages cryptographic keys and authorized user tokens, and maintains content delivery service status (for deployment purposes 212 and 210 could be physically different servers firewalled and separated). Content encrypter 214 accepts content 102 and encrypts the content for secure delivery to a client computing system. Content server 216 sends the encrypted content to the client. Key server 226 is responsible for provisioning the title keys to the client computing systems within an authenticated session. Server certificate 224 is used by the SP server agent to participate in mutual authentication and establishment of the authenticated session with the client computing systems. Communications links between SP server agent 210, key server 226, and content server 216 are protected by well accepted information security practices. The key server has the highest network and access protection to ensure only authorized parties are able to reach it and the keys managed by the key server are isolated and firewalled from attackers from outside network entities. The SP server agent or the key server has access to the private key associated with the server certificate 224. In an embodiment, this private key and all operations done with this private key are protected using a hardware security module (HSM) (not shown in FIG. 2) on the server.

In an embodiment, the cryptographic scheme used to authenticate the client computing system with the SP server comprises a cryptographic authentication protocol protecting a user's privacy based on the use of zero-knowledge proofs. In an embodiment, the cryptographic authentication protocol comprises the Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) scheme, a Direct Anonymous Attestation (DAA) scheme with enhanced revocation capabilities. EPID mitigates the privacy issues of common Rivest, Shamir, Adleman (RSA)—public key infrastructure (PKI) security implementations where every individual is uniquely identified for each transaction. Instead, EPID provides the capability of remote attestation but only identifies the client computing system as having a component (such as a chipset) from a particular technology generation. EPID is a group signature scheme, where one group's public key corresponds to multiple private keys, and private keys generate a group signature which is verified by the group public key. EPID provides the security property of being anonymous and unlinkable—given two signatures, one cannot determine whether the signatures are generated from one or two private keys. EPID also provides the security property of being unforgeable—without a private key, one cannot create a valid signature.

Generally, setting up a secure communications channel with EPID may be accomplished as follows. A first party (such as the client computing system) sends an EPID certificate to a second party (such as the service provider server). Never knowing the identity of the first party and only knowing the first party is a computing platform with a trusted security processor, the second party authenticates the first party. The first party then authenticates the second party using the second party's public key certificate. Since the second party doesn't require privacy, the second party's public key certificate may not be an EPID certificate (but it could be). The parties may then enter into a Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange agreement.

Various suitable embodiments of DAA and EPID are described in the following co-patent applications, incorporated herein by reference: “An Apparatus and Method of Direct Anonymous Attestation from Bilinear Maps.” by Ernest F. Brickell and Jingtao Li, Ser. No. 11/778,804, filed Jul. 7, 2007; “An Apparatus and Method for a Direct Anonymous Attestation Scheme from Short-Group Signatures,” by Ernest F. Brickell and Jingtao Li, Ser. No. 12/208,989, filed Sep. 11, 2008; and “Direct Anonymous Attestation Scheme with Outsourcing Capability,” by Ernest F. Brickell and Jingtao Li, Ser. No. 12/286,303, filed Sep. 29, 2008. In other embodiments, other authentication and attestation schemes may also be used.

The client computing system comprises at least three main components—host software, chipset hardware/firmware, and the CPU/GFX/Media engines. It is assumed in embodiments of the present invention that the host software is untrusted. Even if the host software gets attacked, no secrets will be compromised. Host software is responsible for network connection to SP server 104 and downloading media from content server 216. Host software acts as a proxy between various SP servers and the chipset hardware/firmware. Host software sends encrypted content directly to the graphics hardware after the chipset hardware/firmware has completed title key unwrap and injection into the CPU/GFX component.

Chipset hardware/firmware is responsible for all protected processing, taking the role of the protected device for content protection processing. In an embodiment, the chipset hardware/firmware sends protected title keys to the graphics hardware using the DMI mechanism.

The CPU/GFX component is responsible for final stream decryption, decode and display. The GFX engine is a passive device, making no policy decisions. When asked, the GFX engine simply decrypts the content, then decodes the submitted video slices. In an embodiment, the GFX engine (with protected media encoders) re-encrypts the display content for HDCP output protection over HDMI and wireless (e.g. WiDi) displays.

A protected client computing system must be remotely identified by a service provider before sending highly sensitive information. The mechanism used to identify the platform must not violate user privacy. Embodiments of the present invention provide a protected mechanism for a service provider to verify over the network that the service provider server is communicating to a suitable client computing system and transfer title keys and other confidential material to that client computing system. In one embodiment, the protocol utilized to establish a protected session between the service provider server and the client computing system is EPID. EPID allows for a single public key to anonymously verify the signature generated by N-private keys in what is called an EPID group. To implement EPID, each chipset contains a unique private key blown into the platform control hub (PCH) fuses during silicon manufacturing. In an embodiment, the chipset manufacturer places 1,000,000 private keys in a single group and produces 400 groups for each chipset produced. In order to act as the EPID verifier, each service provider will be provisioned with these 400 public keys.

Once a protected EPID session has been established, the service provider server is free to exchange protected confidential information with the protected client computing system. For content streaming, protected title keys may be passed from an SP server to the security processor in the chipset. The security processor sends the protected title keys to the graphics and audio hardware. At this point, encrypted video and audio content can be directly sent from a content server 216 to client computing system graphics and audio hardware which decrypts, decodes, and displays the content. For downloading content, the security processor binds the title keys to the client computing system using a unique platform storage key (again burned into PCH fuses during manufacturing) and returns the bound keys to media player software. When playback is desired, the bound title keys are re-submitted to the security processor, which unbinds and sends them in a protected manner to the graphics and audio hardware.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a client computing system 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A service provider (SP) player/media browser software application 302 may be included in the software stack to interface with the SP server 104 over a network 201 such as the Internet. The SP player/media browser 302 allows a user to browse content offerings of the service provider and to select content to be delivered from the SP server to the client computing system. The SP player/media browser provides user interface controls for the user to manage a content library and to control the selection, downloading, and playback of content. The SP player/media browser interacts with service agent 304. Service agent 304 comprises a software application provided by a service provider that is authorized to access the features of the client computing system supporting end-to-end content protection according to embodiments of the present invention. The service agent interfaces with various SP player/media browser application programming interfaces (APIs) (not shown in FIG. 2). Service agent 304 comprises a media player component 306. The media player provides the content player functionality (e.g., controlling playback).

SP client application 308 enables the SP player/media browser 302 and the service agent 304 to access content protection features on the client computing system's hardware and firmware and for relaying messages to the service provider server 104. In an embodiment, the SP client application comprises a host agent software development kit (SDK) including content protection APIs. In an embodiment, the SP client application communicates with the security processor 314 in the platform control hub (PCH) 312 of the chipset.

Audio driver 311 provides an interface between the media player and audio decrypt hardware 316. Similarly, graphics (GFX) driver 310 provides an interface between the media player and the GFX engine 320. In an embodiment, the PCH 312 comprises security processor 314, which executes firmware to provide content protection functionality, along with other well known system functions. In an embodiment, the security processor may be implemented by a Manageability Engine (ME). As content is handled by the PCH 312 and the GFX engine 320, the content may be protected at least in part by Protected Audio Video Path (PAVP) components 318, 322 in the PCH hardware/firmware and GFX engine hardware, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of secure content processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. At block 402, a user of the client computing system uses SP player/media browser 302 to browse, discover, and purchase content from one or more service providers. At block 404, mutual authentication of the SP Server 104 and the client computing platform 101 is performed. An authenticated session is established. Key blobs with usage rights for a given set of content are provisioned. The key blobs are bound to the client computing system to ensure that the system is both confidentiality and integrity protected as necessary.

The client computing system then gets the encrypted content at block 406 from content server 216 over network 201 (for streaming operations) or from local storage on the client computing system (for content previously purchased, downloaded, and stored). The system is prepared to work on video slices (e.g., sub-frame). As a result, the hardware can process the data as soon as the first slice of data is submitted.

At block 408, the user initiates playback of the selected content using the SP player/media browser 302. The key blob is submitted to the security processor 314 for unpacking and extracting of the title key. When that is done, the title key is loaded by the security processor into the graphics hardware 320 for decryption. The SP player/media browser submits the encrypted content to the media processing engine within GFX engine 320 at block 410. The GFX engine decrypts the content using the title keys and re-encrypts the content using a local protected key. Re-encrypted data may be stored in protected local or system memory. The re-encrypted content is subsequently obtained, decrypted, and decompressed at block 414. The decrypt is performed first. Once the data is decrypted, the data is decoded/decompressed. Once the data is decompressed, the data is re-encrypted and passed to the composition engine via the system memory. Once the composition is finished, the data is again protected and passed using system memory to the display engine. In an embodiment, each component along the way has the ability to decrypt, process and re-encrypt as necessary.

At block 416, the GFX engine re-encrypts the media content using HDCP technology (in an embodiment) and delivers the content to the display for viewing by the user. At each step of the process, the content is never in the clear where it is accessible by software or unauthorized hardware components running on the client computing system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a secure content processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A SP server 104 interacts over network 201 to client computing system 101. Client computing system comprises first 500 and second components 502. In an embodiment, the first component comprises a CPU and GFX component, and the second component comprises a platform control hub (PCH). In another embodiment, the first and second components may be combined into a single component in a system-on-a-chip (SOC) implementation. First component 500 includes a plurality of processor cores 504, and GFX engine 320. Processor cores 504 execute various components of host software (SW) 506 (as described in FIG. 3), a client certificate 508, fuses 521, and a shared secret 519. Host SW reads data, including encrypted content previously obtained from a SP server or tangible media (such as a DVD, Blu-Ray, or other storage technology), from hard disk drive (HDD)/solid state drive (SSD) 510. In an embodiment, Host SW comprises at least a SP player/media browser application 302, a service agent 304, and a SP client application 308. In an embodiment, HDD/SSD includes one or more user profiles 511.

GFX engine 320 comprises a plurality of components. Media encrypt/decrypt engine 520 comprises logic to encrypt and decrypt content. Media encode/decode engine 522 comprises logic to encode and decode content. GFX Composition (Comp) engine 524 comprises logic to construct display images. Display engine 526 comprises logic to pass the composed display images to the display. Display encrypt/decrypt engine 528 comprises logic to encrypt and decrypt display data prior to sending the display data to display 538 over protected link 527. Memory encrypt/decrypt engine 530 comprises logic to encrypt and decrypt data stored in protected intermediate surfaces 534 in memory 536. Memory 536 also includes logic to implement confidentiality and integrity protected memory operations 532.

Second component 502 comprises a plurality of components, some of which are not shown in order to simplify FIG. 5. Second component comprises a security processor 314. Security processor includes firmware and/or hardware logic to provide attestation, provisioning key management, output control, and ad matching operations 516 for the client computing system. Security processor also includes fuses 517, shared secret 519, and trust anchors 518 for supporting a PKI such as verification keys and key hierarchy information. Fuses 521, 517 are programmed into the hardware of the first and second components during manufacturing of the chipset with key material for EPID use. The hardware root of trust is built up from the information programmed into the fuses on the manufacturing floor when the client computing system is manufactured. This ensures that each individual client computing system is unique, yet privacy protected. Shared secret 519 is hard-coded into the hardware of the first and second components during manufacturing of the chipset and CPU/GFX components. In an embodiment, the shared secret may be used in setting up the secure chip to chip communications channel over the DMI link 538.

Client computing system also includes a protected real time clock 513 for providing secure clock services, a display 538, and a non-volatile memory (NVM) 512. In an embodiment, the protected real-time clock may be seeded by a third party, and may be virtualized for multiple service providers. The NVM may be used to store the firmware image for the second component, as well as to store temporary data (such as integrity and state information) for security processor processing operations.

In an embodiment, a processing flow may be described as follows. SP player/media browser 302 presents a user interface to the user. The user goes to the service provider's web site to browse available content. The SP web site has an auto detection capability to determine if the user's client computing system has integrated within it the capability of authenticating with the SP server 104. If capable, the user is allowed to choose content. The content may be bought, rented, or subscribed to, or may be streamed. The user pays for the content. SP player/media browser 302 invokes security processor 316 to authenticate the client computing system 101 with the SP server 104. In an embodiment, the authentication uses EPID technology. The client computing system 101 is authenticated at least in part by having the SP server 104 verify the client computing system's certificate 508, perform a revocation check, and verify a certification path to a certificate authority (using the EPID protocol in one embodiment). When both the client computing system 101 and the SP server 104 are authenticated, a secure communications channel may be set up based on the EPID protocol in one embodiment. In an embodiment, once the secure communication channel is set up, a command set may be used for end to end content protection capabilities.

The SP Server 104 provisions an encrypted title key to the client computing system, with constraints on usage of the content (e.g., time). The SP server sends the encrypted title key over the secure channel to security processor 314. Security processor 314 decrypts the encrypted title key, using its own key hierarchy. Security processor 314 uses a storage key to re-encrypt the newly decrypted title key to form a key blob. The key blob is bound to the client computing system for a specified time period. Security processor 314 sends the key blob to SP player/media browser 302 running in the CPU core. SP player/media browser 302 stores the key blob in HDD/SSD 510. SP player/media browser 302 then downloads the user-selected encrypted content. In one embodiment, the downloaded encrypted content may be stored in a content cache 552 in the HDD/SSD 510.

When a user wants to play the content, the SP player/media browser 302 submits the key blob back to the security processor 314. The security processor verifies the signature of the key blob, and checks usage constraints such as time, for example. The security processor 314 sends the encrypted title key over the encrypted channel (e.g. DMI link 538) to the media encrypt/decrypt component 520 of the GFX engine 320. The security processor instructs the SP player/media browser that the GFX/media engine is ready to process the encrypted content. In an embodiment, the SP player/media browser 302 reads the encrypted content from content cache 552 in HDD/SDD 510, or obtains the encrypted content from the SP server 104 over the network 201 (for a streaming application), and sends the encrypted content to the GFX engine slice by slice.

The GFX engine 320 processes the encrypted content in a slice by slice manner. For each slice, the SP player/media browser reads the slice headers in the clear. The rest of the slice is encrypted so that the SP player/media browser cannot access the content. The SP player/media browser keeps track of playback state information using an initialization vector. The media encrypt/decrypt engine 520 decrypts the content using the title key, after decrypting the encrypted title key received from the security processor. In one embodiment, the output data of the media encrypt/decrypt engine is still compressed according to the well-known H.264 encoding scheme. In other embodiments, other encoding schemes may be used. The media encode/decode engine 522 decodes each slice and then re-encrypts the slice using memory encrypt/decrypt 530. The re-encrypted content slice is stored in protected intermediate surfaces 534 in memory 536. GFX composition engine 524 controls the composition of the image to be displayed on the display, including the foreground and background images, windows, etc. The GFX composition engine obtains the re-encrypted content slices from protected intermediate surfaces 534 in memory 536 to generate the composed image. The GFX composition engine 524 sends the composed image data to the display engine 526.

The display engine uses display encrypt/decrypt engine 528 to decrypt the composed image from the encryption that was used to store the content slices in memory 536. The display engine 526 uses the display encrypt/decrypt engine to re-encrypt the composed image data according to the HDCP technology, in one embodiment. The encrypted composed image data is sent by the GFX engine 320 over the protected chip to chip data interface (e.g., DMI link) 538 to the second component 502, for transfer to the display 538 over protected display interface link 527.

In an embodiment, there can be any number of concurrent, independent content streams being processed by the client computing system. Each content stream has its own cryptographic context so as not to interfere with other streams. This also allows for the client computing system to ensure that any kind of attack or compromise on one stream does not affect the other content streams.

In an embodiment, HDD/SDD 510 comprises at least one user profile 511 and an ad cache 550, both of which are discussed further below. In an embodiment, client computing system comprises one or more sensors 554 coupled to second component 502. Sensors sense the environment surrounding the client computing system and report sensor information to security processor 314 for use by attestation, provisioning key management, output control, and dynamic context based ad matching component 516. In an embodiment, sensors may include a GPS system, accelerometer, compass, vibration detector, and/or other sensors.

Embodiments of the present invention use the security capabilities described above to support secure sharing of content in a peer to peer manner and interpreting of policies associated with shared content via sub-licensing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of peer client computing systems according to an embodiment of the present invention. Client computing system A 602 and client computing system B 604 may be configured as described in FIG. 5 for client computing system 101. Client computing system A 602 may communicate with Service Provider (SP) Server 104 over network 201 to obtain content 608 for playback on client computing system A. Client computing system A 602 may also communicate with client computing system B 604 over local network 606. Local network 606 may comprise any means of communication between devices, such as wireless (e.g., WiFi), wired, Bluetooth, near field communications (NFC), infrared (IR), and so on. Local network 606 may also be coupled to network 201. In an embodiment, network 201 and local network 606 may be the same network. In an embodiment, when client computing system A obtains content 608, client computing system A also obtains license blob 610 that accompanies the content. The license blob may specify usage policies of the content by client computing system A and/or other devices. The license blob may be encrypted by SP server 104 prior to delivery of the license blob to client computing system A to deter tampering. The license blob may be decrypted and read by the security processor 618 within the client computing system A.

Client computing system A comprises sharing agent A 614. A sharing agent may be a component that securely interacts in a peer to peer manner with one or more sharing agents on other client computing systems. In an embodiment, a sharing agent may be a standalone software program, or may be integrated into an application program running on a client computing system (such as SP player/media browser 302, for example). In an embodiment, a sharing agent may be embodied in host software 506. Client computing system B 604 comprises sharing agent B 616. In an embodiment, sharing agents A and B communicate using a content sharing protocol. Client computing system A comprises security processor A 618, and client computing system B comprises security processor B 620. As discussed above, a security processor may be implemented in firmware, hardware, or a combination of firmware and hardware. Security processor A and security processor B interact to create a logical private and secure connection between each other. In an embodiment, this connection may be used to securely transfer sub-license 612 from security processor A to security processor B. The logical connection may be over network 201, local network 606, or peer-to-peer directly between client computing systems using the sharing agents.

Security processor A 618 creates sub-license 612 based at least in part on license blob 610 for content 608, and may send the sub-license to other devices. The sub-license defines the policies of acceptable usage of content 608 by client computing system B 604 (the peer device receiving the sub-license and the content). In other words, the sub-license comprises policies defining restrictions on sharing the content between client computing systems.

In embodiments of the present invention, the license blob received from the SP server 104 may specify sub-license policies. For example, sub-license policies may comprise any one or more of the following:

Give-Max-Count—The number of permanent copies to other devices. Loan-Max-Count—The number of loans. Loan-Max-Duration—The length of time the loan is valid. View-Max-Duration—The length of time that the content (such as a movie) can be viewed after first play. Loan-Max-Hops—The number of times sub-licensed content (such as a movie) can be loaned. Max-Play-Count—The number of times a loaned content (such as a movie) can be played. Active-After-Loan—Will the content remain active on the lender device after it is loaned to another device? Active-After-Give—Will the content remain active on the giver's device after it is given to another device? Give-Max-Quality—The maximum quality of the content when it is given to another device (e.g. resolution or frames per second). Loan-Max-Quality—The maximum quality of the content when it is loaned to another device (e.g. resolution or frames per second).

Other sub-license policies may also be defined.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow diagrams of content sharing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. At block 702 of FIG. 7, a user may order content for a client computing system A. In an embodiment, the content may be purchased. In another embodiment, the content may be obtained without charge, but with certain license rights attached to the content. In another embodiment, the content may be obtained via a loan, with certain license rights attached to the content. In an embodiment, the user obtains the content via digital download from another computing device using the SP player/media browser component 302. In an embodiment, the content may be obtained from SP server 104. In other embodiments, other distribution mechanisms may be used.

In an embodiment, the SP player/media browser may be directed to a movie storefront web site, for example, and the user purchases a movie using well known user interface techniques. In an example, the content provider may allow the user to loan (i.e., sub-license) the content five times with selectable policies, one of which may provide for a permanent loan to another device, but the remaining four sub-licenses may be set to expire within at most 24 hours from the first playing of the content, and the loaned content may played back starting within at most one week from delivery. In various scenarios, the content provider (e.g., license holder) can further restrict these values and policies. The content provider may define that the loaned copies of the content cannot be further loaned by the lender (i.e., a Loan-Hop-Count may be zero). Many scenarios of usages and transfers may be defined by the license and sub-licenses of embodiments of the present invention.

At block 704, SP server 104 encodes sub-license information into a data structure called a license blob. For example, the sub-licensing information for content that is a movie denoted M1 might include an Originator-ID, Give-Max-Count=1, Loan-Max-Count=4, Loan-Max-Duration=1 week, View-Max-Duration=24 hours, Loan-Max-Hops=0, and so on. The sub-licensing information may also include other information required for content playback such as decryption keys, first-license policies, etc. In an embodiment, the license blob may be encrypted.

At block 706, in one embodiment. SP server 104 securely transmits the requested content and the associated license blob to the client computing system A 602. Client computing system A may then use the content based at least in part on the license policies defined in the license 610, which may be extracted from the received license blob. At some point in time, the user of the content may want to share the content with another device. For example, the user may decide to give a copy of the content to someone who has another device. At block 708, sharing agent A 614 on client computing system A connects to sharing agent B 616 on client computing system B 604 to share the sub-license for the content (which is contained in the encrypted license blob 610). At block 710, sharing agent A sends the license blob to security processor A 618 with a sub-license request. At block 712, sharing agent A 614 and sharing agent B 616 create a secure communications session between security processor A 618 and security processor B 620 to facilitate transfer of the license blob from client computing system A to client computing system B. In an embodiment, creating the secure communication session uses EPID. Processing continues on FIG. 8.

At block 802 of FIG. 8, security processor A decrypts the received license blob 610, extracts playback information, validates the sub-license request and, if allowed, creates a sub-license 612 to allow client computing system B to play the content. In an embodiment, the sub-license may define that client computing system B has ownership of the content, but no transfer rights. At block 804, security processor A sends the sub-license 612 to security processor B, using the secure communications session, sharing agent A and sharing agent B. If the sub-license transfer is successful, at block 806, security processor A modifies the license blob 610 to reflect the current sharing transaction, re-encrypts the license blob, and returns the license blob to sharing agent A. At block 808, security processor B encrypts the sub-license with its own unique key and sends the encrypted sub-license to sharing agent B. At block 810, sharing agent B stores the sub-license in a memory of client computing system B.

At block 812, client computing system A provides access to the content to client computing system B. In an embodiment, this may be accomplished using sharing agent A and sharing agent B to communicate directly to each other to send a complete copy of the content from client computing system A to client computing system B. In another embodiment, the content may be streamed in portions from client computing system A to client computing system B, contained in a shared file mutually accessible by the client computing systems, progressively downloaded (which allows for starting playback as soon as possible), or stored on a network file server. Furthermore, client computing system A may re-encode or re-encrypt the content to suit the capabilities or trust level of client computing system B, or if sub-licensing policies require re-encoding/re-encryption.

At block 814, client computing system B may commence playback of the content according to the rights specified in the sub-license.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least an implementation. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification may or may not be all referring to the same embodiment.

Also, in the description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. In some embodiments of the invention, “connected” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. However, “coupled” may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but may still cooperate or interact with each other.

Thus, although embodiments of the invention have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that claimed subject matter may not be limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as sample forms of implementing the claimed subject matter. 

1. A method of securely sharing content between a first client computing system and a second client computing system, comprising: establishing a hardware-based root of trust between the first client computing system and a service provider server, receiving from the service provider server, by the first client computing system, content requested by a user and an encrypted license blob associated with the content; connecting a first sharing agent on the first client computing system with a second sharing agent on the second client computing system; sending the encrypted license blob and a sub-license request from the first sharing agent to a first security processor on the first client computing system; decrypting the encrypted license blob by the first security processor, validating the sub-license request, and if allowed, creating a sub-license to allow the second client computing system to play the content; sending the sub-license by the first security processor to a second security processor on the second client computing system; and providing, by the first client computing system, access to the content to the second client computing system.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the encrypted license blob comprises sub-license information, the sub-license information comprising policies defining restrictions on sharing the content between the client computing systems.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating, by the first sharing agent and the second sharing agent, a secure communications session between the first security processor and the second security processor before sending the sub-license.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein creating the secure communications session comprises using the Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) signature verification protocol.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the license blob by the first security processor to reflect sharing of the content, re-encrypting the license blob, and returning the re-encrypted license blob to the first sharing agent, by the first security processor when the sub-license transfer is successful.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: encrypting a received sub-license by the second security processor and sending the encrypted sub-license to the second sharing agent; and storing, by the second sharing agent, the encrypted sub-license in a memory of the second client computing system.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising playing the content by the second client computing system according to the sub-license.
 8. A first client computing system for securely sharing content with a second client computing system comprising: a first component to establish a hardware-based root of trust between the first client computing system and a service provider server, and to receive from the service provider server content requested by a user and an encrypted license blob associated with the content; a first security processor; and a first sharing agent to connect with a second sharing agent on the second client computing system, and to send the encrypted license blob and a sub-license request to the first security processor; wherein the first security processor is to decrypt the encrypted license blob, validate the sub-license request, and if allowed, create a sub-license to allow the second client computing system to play the content, and to send the sub-license to a second security processor on the second client computing system; and wherein the first component is to provide access to the content to the second client computing system.
 9. The first client computing system of claim 8, wherein the encrypted license blob comprises sub-license information, the sub-license information comprising policies defining restrictions on sharing the content between the client computing systems.
 10. The first client computing system of claim 8, wherein the first sharing agent is to create a secure communications session between the first security processor and the second security processor before sending of the sub-license.
 11. The first client computing system of claim 10, wherein the first sharing agent is to create the secure communications session using the Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) signature verification protocol.
 12. The first client computing system of claim 8, wherein the first security processor is to modify the license blob to reflect sharing of the content, re-encrypt the license blob, and return the re-encrypted license blob to the first sharing agent, when the sub-license transfer is successful.
 13. A computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more instructions that when executed by a processor of a first client computing system configures the client computing system to securely share content with a second client computing system by establishing a hardware-based root of trust between the first client computing system and a service provider server, receiving from the service provider server content requested by a user and an encrypted license blob associated with the content; connecting a first sharing agent on the first client computing system with a second sharing agent on the second client computing system; sending the encrypted license blob and a sub-license request from the first sharing agent to a first security processor on the first client computing system: causing the decrypting of the encrypted license blob by the first security processor, validating the sub-license request, and if allowed, creating a sub-license to allow the second client computing system to play the content, and causing the sending of the sub-license by the first security processor to a second security processor on the second client computing system; and providing access to the content to the second client computing system.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the encrypted license blob comprises sub-license information, the sub-license information comprising policies defining restrictions on sharing the content between the client computing systems.
 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions to create a secure communications session between the first security processor and the second security processor before sending the sub-license.
 16. A system for securely sharing content comprising: a first client computing system including a first component to establish a hardware-based root of trust between the first client computing system and a service provider server, and to receive from the service provider server content requested by a user and an encrypted license blob associated with the content; a first security processor; and a first sharing agent to connect with a second sharing agent on a second client computing system, and to send the encrypted license blob and a sub-license request to the first security processor; wherein the first security processor is adapted to decrypt the encrypted license blob, validate the sub-license request, and if allowed, create a sub-license to allow the second client computing system to play the content, and to send the sub-license to a second security processor on the second client computing system; and wherein the first component is adapted to provide access to the content to the second client computing system; and a second client computing system including a memory; a second sharing agent; and a second security processor; wherein the second security processor is adapted to receive the sub-license from the first security processor, to encrypt the received sub-license, and to send the encrypted sub-license to the second sharing agent; wherein the second sharing agent is adapted to store the encrypted sub-license in the memory.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second client computing system further comprises a second component to play the content according to the sub-license.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the encrypted license blob comprises sub-license information, the sub-license information comprising policies defining restrictions on sharing the content between the client computing systems.
 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the first sharing agent and the second sharing agent are adapted to create a secure communications session between the first security processor and the second security processor before sending the sub-license.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the secure communications session uses the Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) signature verification protocol.
 21. The system of claim 16, wherein the first security processor is adapted to modify the license blob to reflect sharing of the content, re-encrypt the license blob, and return the re-encrypted license blob to the first sharing agent, when the sub-license transfer is successful. 